Best Buy's business up as competitor closes

Thursday

Feb 26, 2009 at 12:01 AMFeb 26, 2009 at 7:37 PM

Customers hoping to find bargains at the soon-to-be-shuttered Circuit City store on Springfield’s west side are greeted by some flat-screen TVs, a limited selection of DVDs and CDs and a smattering of other electronics and related gear. But while Circuit City’s future is extinction, a second big-box electronics store a few blocks away is enjoying an increase in traffic.

Chris Dettro

Customers hoping to find bargains at the soon-to-be-shuttered Circuit City store on Springfield’s west side are greeted by some flat-screen TVs, a limited selection of DVDs and CDs and a smattering of other electronics and related gear.

“Fixtures and shelves are for sale,” placards announce. Yellow caution tape blocks off the back half of the store, which is empty.

But while Circuit City’s future is extinction, a second big-box electronics store a few blocks away is enjoying an increase in traffic. Across Wabash Avenue at the Best Buy store, business has picked up since the Circuit City chain announced it was going out of business, Best Buy manager John Kerstein said.

“We’ve been seeing more business,” said Kerstein. “Some of it is just a general increase, but some of it is from Circuit City.”

Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City is closing 567 U.S. stores and eliminating 30,000 jobs.

A consortium of four liquidation companies is handling the closings. Liquidators said last month the stores would close by the end of March, with markdowns perhaps reaching 90 percent in the final days.

Merchandise was marked down anywhere from 30 percent to 60 percent Wednesday, with big-ticket electronics, such as the flat-screen TVs, at the 30 percent-off level and CDs and DVDs at half price.

Best Buy’s Kerstein said he hasn’t done any price comparisons, but “we’ve been hearing a lot of comments from people going out there expecting a great deal on something and finding that the discounted price is still higher than ours,” he said.

Mike Schwab of Springfield said wasn’t impressed with the liquidation sale.

“The DVDs are pretty limited, and 50 percent off is not very much,” he said. “They’ve got a bunch of $200 printers, but aren’t the inkjet printers usually under $100?”

Schwab said he tried to buy a TV at Circuit City early last year after the first two he bought there had problems.

“They had so few TVs because they had returned the analog-only TVs and few TVs had digital tuners,” he said. “I ended up with a Best Buy TV because Circuit City didn’t have any.”

He said he stopped shopping at Circuit City for computers after he noticed the store had laid off workers skilled in that area.

“I knew they would be folding,” he said. “Just a matter of time to run out of money.”

“I’ve had better customer service during the sale and have heard horror stories about Best Buy’s customer service after the sale,” she said. “I really hate to see them (Circuit City) go.”

Developer Charles Robbins leases the buildings in which each retailer operates.

“I have no doubt it will lease in a reasonable amount of time,” he said of the 43,000-square-foot Circuit City space.

Circuit City opened in August 1995 as the northernmost anchor of Southwest Plaza I, II and III, of which Robbins is one of the developers. Best Buy had moved two months earlier into its current 58,000-square-foot store across Wabash Avenue in the same development.

“We’ve had some interest in the Circuit City space, and we have shown the building,” Robbins said. The owners already received one offer to lease the space, he said, but it was rejected as “artificially low.”

“We haven’t really shopped it, and the calls we’ve received came in unsolicited,” Robbins said. “It’s in a good location.”

Best Buy has “two or three years” remaining on its lease, Robbins added. “But we’re in the process of redoing that.”

Chris Dettro can be reached at (217) 788-1510 or chris.dettro@sj-r.com.

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